The family that ‘plays’ together …

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“We love performing together,” said Goggin. “We love the process from auditions to the final curtain call. I especially love watching Natalie performing on stage from backstage during the shows. I could watch her a million times singing and dancing to the same song and each time is just as special as the last. It is definitely a bonding experience because we are always there to support each other every step of the way.” For Virginia Conroy, 45, of Rockville Centre, and her daughters Caitlin Duffy, 11, and Gabby, 9, this is the first time they have performed together on stage (another daughter Gillian, 14, is currently in a play at Chaminade.) Mother and daughters all have extensive experience in their schools’ theater departments. Conroy said that she found the IPTG after a discussion with colleague Eileen Goggin at work (Conroy is a criminal defense attorney in Nassau and Queens). “We were both struggling, juggling very stressful jobs and motherhood,” she said. “To be able to share this experience with my daughters, as well as with other parents and their children, is an unexpected pleasure … the experience of being able to perform on stage with my daughters is a blessing, and IPTG is the most special theater group for allowing a forum for parents and children to share in the same stage production.” Rico Socci summed up the experience of being in community theater as like riding a roller coaster. “The ups, the downs … and then the disappointment when it’s over — and then you want to do it all over again. It’s fun, it’s frustrating, it preys on your insecurities, but it’s rewarding — and it’s a like golf — you can participate for the rest of your life!”

‘Smokey Joe’s Café’ The Island Park Theatre Group will present “Smokey Joe’s Café” on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10, at 8 p.m.; on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16 and 17, at 8 p.m.; and on Sunday, Nov. 18, at noon. For tickets or more information on how to get involved in community theater, call (516) 554-6295, or e-mail www.islandparktheatergroup@yahoo.com or visit www.islandparktheatregroup.webs.com.

Sid Tanenbaum, who lived in Woodmere and owned a metal-stamping shop in Far Rockaway, where he was known more for his charitable ways than his two-handed set shot, has been honored for the past 30 years with a basketball tournament that raises scholarship money for students in the Five Towns.